In the wake of the Batocabe murder, I don’t see why the 17th Congress would continue dragging its feet on the proposal for the re-imposition of capital punishment on heinous crimes.
At this point, there is no other case more heinous than the cold-blooded gunslaying of Ako Bicol Party-list Rep. Rodel Batocabe and his police escort, carried out in broad daylight and causing injuries to several elderly persons.
Besides, this is one of the campaign promises of President Duterte to bring back the death penalty, which was shelved during the administration of former President, and now Speaker of the House, Gloria Arroyo.
Such tragedy should serve as a wake-up call to the distinguished men and women at the House of Representatives and the Senate, who must now realize no one is immune to the perilous danger of the Sword of Damocles waiting to strike its next target.
I’d like to echo, therefore, the call of Chairman Dante Jimenez of the Presidential Anti-Corruption Commission for passage of the bill seeking to restore the death penalty.
Apart from murder, heinous crimes include rape, armed robbery, and violent offenses involving illegal drugs. These are predatory crimes that target innocent and helpless victims in home invasion, forced abduction and senseless violence caused by triggered by drug abuse.
Understandably, Jimenez empathizes with the grieving Batocabe family, as we all do. The founder of the Volunteers Against Crime and Corruption will never forget how he lost his brother Engineer Boboy Jimenez in the similar vicious attack by hired guns.
Unfortunately, we have unjust laws that often favor more the interests of the hideous criminals than those of the aggrieved party. It is for this reason that Jimenez and the late Lauro Vizconde founded VACC.
The Anti-Crime & Terrorism Thru Community Involvement & Support (ACT-CIS) Party-list support VACC’s advocacy of defending and upholding the human rights and legal rights of disadvantaged crime victims.
Congress must now heed the majority’s clamor for true justice—the restoration of capital punishment, that many believes the only solution to stop violent criminals and recidivists in the country.
Unless, of course, they need one or two more of their colleagues dead in the hands of hired killers or assassins before they realize the urgency to pass the death penalty law.